Hundreds of CDC layoffs reversed, but biodefense preparedness staff hit
Source: Washington Post
October 13, 2025 at 6:45 p.m. EDT
Officials have reversed more than half of the about 1,300 layoff notices sent to staff members at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sparing personnel who were leading the response to measles outbreaks in the United States and an Ebola outbreak abroad. But details emerged about the other health officials who lost their jobs, including analysts responsible for monitoring and protecting the United States from biological, chemical and nuclear threats, according to current and former officials.
Dozens of fired staff members at the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, a federal health agency, included individuals with top-secret clearance who work with intelligence agencies on biodefense issues such as pandemics and weaponized pathogens, said a former Department of Health and Human Services official who has been in contact with those dismissed.
The threats could be from “state actors, any type of threat, whether it’s intentional or accidental,” said the former official, who, like many people, spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation or to protect their own or former colleagues’ jobs. No other group within HHS performs these duties, the official said.
Others who received notices at ASPR include staff members who help coordinate biodefense exercises and drills; its legislative affairs team; and staff members who monitor data on natural disasters, infectious diseases outbreaks and cyberattacks on hospitals for the main operations center at HHS headquarters, according to that official and a senior federal health official.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/10/13/cdc-layoffs-reversed-aspr-samhsa/
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get rid of people protecting us from chemical biological and nuclear attack because Trump already bombed Iran and Yemen and anyone else that might have tried it is too scared of tariffs so 3 cheers for DJT!! 